USD strikes early, often, hammering Butler

Said the Point Loma High product, “We wanted to hit them in the mouth early and take the life out of ’em.”

Consider the Bulldogs battered and bloodied, in need of sutures. USD scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions, frustrated an explosive offense and handed Butler a 42-14 rout Saturday afternoon before 1,533 at Torero Stadium.

“That was a statement our team was making,” said USD quarterback Mason Mills. Part of the statement: good luck stopping the Toreros’ passing game. Mills completed 26 of 36 passes for 407 yards and five touchdowns.

Sam Hoekstra pulled in nine catches for 175 yards and a TD.

But the bigger statement was this: USD might have lost to Dayton last week, in double overtime, on the road, but the Toreros still plan on winning the Pioneer Football League title.

With the victory, USD (5-3, 4-1) is locked in a four-way tie atop the PFL with Butler (6-3, 4-1), Dayton and Marist. The league winner automatically advances to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

“You could say it was the biggest game in school history,” said Mills, who surpassed 10,000 yards passing in his career. “The playoffs were on the line.”

USD led 35-7 at the half. Mills had thrown for 297 yards and 4 TDs, but the bigger story was the defense, a defense that had been surrendering 29.4 points per game.

The visitors didn’t score until their seventh possession.

Tweeted one fan, “Butler shoulda sent its basketball team.”

A defense that had been shredded via the air all season slowed down the conference’s reigning player of the year, Butler quarterback Matt Lawrence. Lawrence would throw for 251 yards, rush for another 54 but games are determined by points, not yards.

Butler came in averaging 32 points and settled for 14.

“It was gut-check time,” said defensive coordinator Steve Irvin.

The defense turned in one of the biggest plays of the game. With USD leading 21-0 early in the second quarter, Hoekstra fumbled a punt and Butler recovered on the USD 17.

But two downs later safety Matt Miller (team-high 13 tackles) stripped Brendan Shannon, Agnew recovered the fumble and all sense of drama was soon erased.

As a reward, head coach Dale Lindsey gave the team two days off.

“NFL players, some making $200,000 a week, you can offer them a black-and-white TV and a bag of groceries for two days off and they’ll kill themselves,” said Lindsey. “These guys, all I can offer are the two days off.